Thermostatically controlled valve



Oct. 23, 1934. B, GREEN 1,978,131

THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED VALVE Filed March 22, 1954 L ee Greef;

Patented Oct. 23, 1934 PATENT OFFICE 1,978,131 THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED VALVE Lee B. Green, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The Globe Machine & Stamping Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 22, 1934, Serial No. 716,850l

3 Claims. (Cl. 236-32) 1 My invention relates to the class of valves in which the downward `flow of liquid `through a port is controlled by a thermally responsive valveactuating member. l

Generally speaking, the objects of my invention are those of providing `a `connection between a thermally distortible member (as for `example `bellows containing some `volatile liquid) which will not be affected by distortions of the thermally Hdistortible member when these distortions are Lnot in the actuating direction, which will allow the closure member of the valve to seat freely and ,tobe readily removed forv cleaning both the said` closure member and the parts adjacent to the port "controlled by the closure member, and which will permit the connecting member to be supported and guided as to its positioningy entirely by the thermally supported member.

1 More particularlymyinvention relates to a `valve for controllingra` discharge port in the `bottom of` a liquid-containing receptacle in re- "sponse to the expansion and contraction ofa thermostatic bellows member underhanging this "port, and in this aspect. aims to overcome numerlous difiiculties encountered` with the beverage `water h eatershown` in my UnitedStates Patent #1,920,013 of Julyl25,1933. Y

` -In the beverage-water heater of my said patent, `a cold-water receiving cup has a bottom port through which thewater fiows into the bore of an upright tube which has an electric heating member `in its lowerportion. To control this p ort, `my said patent `disclosed an upright bellows disposed within` theV said tube above the. heating `member, the lower end of the `bellows being supported from the tube at a fixed elevation, and the upper end ofthe bellowsfbeingr fastenedto a longitudinally grooved` metering valve stem which `.extends axially of thebellows and theslides` in a tubular guide. A' n When the just described control arrangement is usedhunder a variety of conditions, I have observed the following occasionaldiiliculties, which 1 my present invention aims to overcome:

(l) `In the commercially available metal bellows suitable for such use, irregularities in. themanufacture ofthe bellows often` throws the' axis of the two endsl'of the bellows somewhat out of i alinement, so that avalve stem fastened to the upper end` of the bellows` will not aline axially with the' axis ofthe lower end of the bellows.

i Consequently, when therliquid heater is.` so assem-` bled that the lower (or supporting) end of the bellows iscoaxial with -thjefdischarge port of the cup, the valve stem may bind in its guide even `taken when lthe bellowsarecontracted and the when the bellows member is cold, so as to reduce the sensitiveness of the responseof the valve to variations in the temperatureof the bellows.

(2) When the cold waterfiows downward at a varying rate at different sides of the metering valve stem one side of the bellows will be chilled more than the opposite side, thereby enhancing the just recited `binding of this stem. v

(3) When sediment collects on the cup bottom around the port controlled bythe said valve stem, neither the groove in this stem nor the adjacent part ofthe cup bottom can readilyfbe cleaned without first-removing the said stem. And if this stern is threadedly attached to the bellows to permit its removal, the lay user will nd it dificult 70 to re-attach it because he cannot then see any part of the bellows.

(4) If the lower end of the bellows is'also threadedly connected to its supportwhich is desirable to permit the manufacturer to adjust the elevation of the lowerbellows end according to manufacturing variations in the height of the bellowseither the detaching or the re-attachlng of the valve stem may also alter the elevation at which the bellows is supported, thereby varying the temperature at which the Valve will close.

Illustrative of the manner in which my present invention overcomes all of the above enumerated objections to the prior construction,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the liquid heater parts to which my invention relates` and parts adjacent hereto, taken axially of thebellows and of the tube which housesv the bellows,

valve is closed. v v f Fig. 2 is an enlargement `of a portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is `a fragmentary section ofthe parts shown in Fig. 2, but with the section taken at right angles to that of Fig. 2 and `showing the valve ball as raised by bellows.l 1 i Fig. 4 is `an enlarged velevationof ,the tubular member in which the discharge portis formed, looking from the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a beverage water a `considerably distorted .heater of a household type, constructed in the `general manner more fully disclosed in my said riser tube 3 and which also has in its bottom member a central aperture overlying the bore of the said tube.

Freely spaced from and concentric with the riser tube 3 is an outer tube 7 which reaches only part way toward the cup bottom 5a and which is sealed at its lower end to the bottom of the heater body. Thus arranged, the two concentric tubes together form partitioning means. whereby cold water discharged from the cup flows first over the electric heating member 8 which is disposed within the lower part of .the (inner) riser tube 3, and then passes up thespacebetween the two tubes and flows over the upper edge of the outer tube 7, thereby causing this water to be adequately heated before it is discharged into the annular hot-water storing chamber surrounding the two upright tubes.

To control the discharge of cold water from the cup 5 into the inner tube, I provide a valve which, after the general manner shown in my said Patent #1,920,013, is automatically controlled follows:

First, I provide the cup bottom 5a with a per foration 10 (Fig. 2) of considerably larger bore than the needed discharge port, disposing this perforation coaxial with the riser tube 3, and I provide an upright tubular valve body (shown separately in Fig. 4) which has its upper cylindrical portion 11 slid upward through the said -perforation during the assembly.

` This valve body also includes both a peripheral ange 12 at the lower end of its said upper portion (which flange bears upwardly against the cup bottom 5a and is fastened to the latter by brazings 6) and a lower tubular portion 13 which has its bore 13b considerably smaller `than the bore 11a of the upper portion, the said two portions of the bore of the valve bodybeing connected by an annular upwardly facing shoulder 11b at a level not higher than that of the adjacent portion of the upper face of the cup bottom 5a. In addition, the upper tubular part 11 has a plurality of lateral inlet ports P adjacent to the said cup bottom and desirably with the lower edge of each such port flush with the upper face y of the cup bottom 5a.

Loosely disposed within the said upper part 11 and adapted to seat on the said annular shoulder 11b so as to close the upper (or inlet) end of the lower bore portion 13b is a valve ball B of a diameter larger than this bore portion 13a, but considerably smaller than the upper bore portion 11a. Then I desirably also provide a ball retainer consisting of an incomplete ring 14 of resilient wire which has its end portions snapped through diametrically opposite horizontal bores 24 in the said upper part 11 (as in Fig. 1) so that these 'end portions will prevent the ball from rolling out of the bore which houses it, when the heater is turned horizontally or even inverted during its shipment.

For the thermostatic control of the valve ball B, I provide an upright metallic thermostatic bellows T having a lower axial stem threaded through a cross-bar 17 which spans the riser tube 3 and is fastened to the latter by screws 18. Extending upward from the upper end of the said bellows, and also axially of the latter, is a valve-actuating stem 19 which preferably has a rounded upper end. This stem is of considerably smaller diameter than the lower bore portion 13b of the valve body, into which bore the said stem extends. Moreover, I preferably employ a bellows member having an axial hub 20 projecting upwardly from the upper end of the bellows proper, this hub being at least as large in diameter as the lower end portion of the valve body, so as to adapt it for engaging the lower ends of one or more of the stop downwardly directed ngers 13a into which this lower end portion is divided by circumferentially spaced recesses 21.

With the cross-bar 17 fastened at a xed elevation to the riser tube 3, the two-stemmed thermostatic member can readily have its lower stem screwed through the said cross-bar until the top of the hub 20 on the bellows is at such elevation v that the distance D (Fig. 2) will correspond to the desired maximum expansion of the bellows, regardless of manufacturing variations in the length of the bellows, and the thermostatic member is then latched at its adjusted height Aby a locknut 22 on the lower stem 15. In addition, a further adjustment can be made at any time, when the upper stem 19 is threaded into the bellows hub 2G as shown in Fig. 2, by rotating this stem in either direction so as to vary the spacing between the upper end of the said stem and the valve ball B when the bellows is at a given temperature.

With my thermostatic valve thus constructed, the clearance between the `upper (or valveactuating) stem 19 and the bore 13b into which this stem extends permits a free movement of this stem at all times, even if the assembly of the bellows should be such that the said stem has its axis offset somewhat from the axis of the lower stem, or inclined to the latter axis. This same clearance also cooperates with the rounding of the upper end of the said stem 19 to insure an unrestricted actuation of the valve ball regardless of a distorting ofthe bellows when expanding, as for example in case of the exaggerated distortion shown in Fig. 3, so that the operation of the valve corresponds fully in sensitiveness to that of the bellows. In addition, the said clearance also compensates for any reasonable departure from an exact axial alinement of the cup bottom perforation 10 with the bore of the riser tube, or for a similar irregularity as to the location of the-cross-bar bore through which the lower stem 15 of the bellows is threaded.

Moreover, even an inexperienced user can readily snap the retaining ring 14 off the valve body and invert the heater to have the valve ball roll out of it, thereby permitting a speedy and easy cleaning of the interior of the ball-housing portion 11, the valve ball itself and the ports P.

However, while I have described my invention in connection with its employment on a particular appliance, I do not wish to be limited in this respect. And it is also to be understood that many details of my above described construction may be modied Without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: i

1. The combination with a liquid container having an aperture in its bottom, of an upright tubular valve body comprising an upper tubular portion extending through the said aperture, a flange on the said body intermediate of its height and sealed to the container bottom, and a lower. tubular portion extending `downwardly from the said flange; the bore of the said lower portion being smaller in diameter than the bore of the said `upper portion, and the two bore portions being connected by an annular upwardly facing interior shoulder; a valve ball freely housed by the said upper portion and `adapted to seat on the said shoulder to close the upper end of the said lower bore portion; an upright thermostatic bellows member spaced downwardly from the valve body; means supporting the said bellows member with the lower end of the latter coaxial with and rigidly spaced from the said container bottomj and a valve stem coaxially fastened to and coaxial with the upper end of the said bellows and extending upwardly into the bore of the lower portion of the said member, the valve stem being considerably smaller in diameter than the last named bore and of such length that its upper end is `disposed for lifting the ball oii its said seat when the bellows member expands in response to a rise in temperature.

2. A container and thermostatic valve as per claim 1, in which the valve body has its lower end provided with circumferentially spaced recesses, the parts of the said lower end of the valve body between these recesses forming iingers, one or more of which iingers is adapted to be engaged by the upper end of the bellows member to limit the expansion of the bellows member.

3. A container and thermostatic valve as per claim 1, in which the valve body has its lower end provided with circumferentially spaced recesses, in which the lower end of the valve body is provided with circumierentially spaced recesses which subdivide the said lower end into downwardly directed ngers, and in which the bellows member includes an upright and axial hub disposed at the upper end of the said member and of a diameter approximately at least as great as the exterior diameter of the said lower end. of the valve body, the said hub having its upper end adapted to engage the lower ends of one or more of the said ingers to limit the expansion of the bellows member.

LEE B. GREEN. 

